It was an NHL-mandated break. It was Christmas http://www.officialcanucks.com/authentic-adidas-brock-boeser-jersey , for goodness sakes, and the Pittsburgh Penguins got an extra day with no game Sunday, giving them four full off days.While none of the Penguins were complaining about the down time, they will need to ensure that it does not serve as a momentum-killer.Pittsburgh (18-12-6) enters Thursday’s home game against the Detroit Red Wings (15-17-6) on an 8-2-1 roll.Article continues below ...“I think there’s significance to winning a few in a row here, but also gaining points along the way in a lot of games,” Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan said in the wake of a 3-0 victory Saturday at Carolina, the Penguins’ third straight win.“As I told the guys in the (locker) room, our guys deserve a lot of credit for how hard they’ve played and how focused they’ve been through this stretch. They’ve played a lot of hockey in a short stretch, and they continued to play hard night in and night out.”Pittsburgh’s recent stretch has boosted it into third place in the Metropolitan Division — back in a playoff spot — after the team fell to the depths of the Eastern Conference during a dismal November.“These past three games we’ve played were pretty tight hockey games. You could tell our mentality was right where it needs to be,” said Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who has led the charge with 10 goals and 17 assists over the past 20 games.“We can build off this when we get back.”The Penguins also have also gotten their best stretch of goaltending lately Christopher Tanev Jersey , although questions remain about how they will deploy Matt Murray, who has won two Stanley Cups, and Casey DeSmith. The two have been used in a straight-up rotation recently, with Murray turning in a 39-save shutout against Carolina.While the Penguins have had a December to remember, the Red Wings are hoping to ditch a malaise after the holidays.Detroit gave Toronto a strong game Sunday, losing 5-4 in overtime, but that can’t hide a 4-6-3 record in December that has dropped the Red Wings to 12th in the Eastern Conference.“We feel that when we’re on our game, we can play with anybody. We’ve shown that over the course of the year,” Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said, most likely referring to an 8-4-1 record in November.“But you have to do it every night, not just when you play some teams. The level of urgency and compete have to be there every night.”The Red Wings and Penguins had a nice little rivalry going in the late 2000s Authentic Daniel Sedin Jersey , splitting two meetings in the Stanley Cup final and staging some high-intensity regular-season games.It would help if Detroit can capture that level against Pittsburgh, as with the game at Toronto.“Sometimes it’s a good reminder of the type of game it takes to be successful,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “That was a great reminder. We are going on the road … and play a couple of real good teams (in Pittsburgh and Dallas). We are going to have to play this same style.” ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jordan Binnington made 31 saves and the St. Louis Blues posted their third straight shutout, beating the Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Sunday for their 10th straight victory.Binnington made 21 saves to blank Arizona on Thursday night, and Jake Allen stopped 32 shots in a 3-0 victory at Colorado on Saturday. St. Louis hasn’t allowed a goal in 187:16, since late in an 8-3 victory over New Jersey on Tuesday night.Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and two assists and Ryan O’Reilly, Vince Dunn and Brayden Schenn also scored to help St. Louis match the best winning streak in franchise history, completed in January 2002. The run also ties the Blues for the longest streak in the NHL this season. The Blues have won eight straight on the road, their best such run since taking 10 straight in 2000.Alex Stalock stopped 26 shots for Minnesota in his first action since Feb. 2.PENGUINS 6, RANGERS 5PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang each had two goals and Pittsburgh beat New York to climb back into playoff position.Defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Brian Dumoulin also scored and Sidney Crosby had three assists to help the Penguins pass Carolina for the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot.Mats Zuccarello had two goals Womens Derek Dorsett Jersey , and Kevin Hayes and Mika Zibanejad added goals for New York.DUCKS 5, CAPITALS 2ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Adam Henrique and Jakob Silfverberg each had two goals and Anaheim’s Ryan Miller became the all-time leader in wins by a U.S.-born goaltender.Miller, who missed 24 games due to a knee injury, made 23 saves in his first start since Dec. 9. He got his 375th victory, breaking a tie with John Vanbiesbrouck.Corey Perry added a goal and an assist for the Ducks.Alex Ovechkin scored his 40th goal of the season for the Capitals to become the fourth player in NHL history with 10 or more 40-goal seasons. John Carlson also scored for Washington and Braden Holtby made 34 saves.FLYERS 3, RED WINGS 1DETROIT (AP) — Ivan Provorov broke a tie early in the third period and Oskar Lindblom had two goals in Philadelphia’s victory over Detroit.The Flyers have won 12 of their last 14 games, moving into contention for a wild card in the Eastern Conference playoffs or perhaps for one of the three guaranteed postseason spots available in the Metropolitan Division. Carter Hart made 37 saves, allowing only Darren Helm’s second-period goal.PANTHERS 6, CANADIENS 3SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Aleksander Barkov had his second career hat trick and added an assist for his third four-game http://www.officialcanucks.com/authentic-adidas-henrik-sedin-jersey , helping Florida beat Montreal.Riley Sheahan, Frank Vatrano and Denis Malgin also scored and James Reimer stopped 28 shots. Max Domi scored twice for the Canadiens, and Brendan Gallagher also had a goal. Antti Niemi allowed three goals on nine shots before being replaced by Carey Price.DEVILS 4, SABRES 1NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Kyle Palmieri had a goal and two assists and Cory Schneider made 34 saves to lead New Jersey past Buffalo.Miles Wood, Jesper Bratt and Joey Anderson also scored to help the Devils win consecutive games for the second time since the start of the year. Sam Reinhart scored for the Sabres.